TeeJay Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 On 5/14/2023 at 7:20 AM, Guppysnail said: Excitement is my biggest obstacle. There are so many fascinating critters and so many ways to set tanks and I want to experience all of them. Throughout my hobby I have repeatedly ended up with more tanks than is reasonable for me to give each tank all the time and attention they deserve. Through the years I have learned patience and now have a someday list. It helps me when deciding what fish next I no longer feel that it’s an either or choice. It becomes a now or later and which is most easily accessible and doable at this time. If I have a tank I don’t get to spend much time each week just watching I know that is a tank to many. I have also missed the full experience of certain fish and being able to witness and learn about different aspects of their behavior by having to many at once. I have revisited certain fish to correct that. Nothing is set in stone and I am now very comfortable with the understanding if I choose a fish I do not enjoy as much as anticipated I can find others who will and move on. As well as some fish I really enjoy at first but over time I stop paying the detailed attention to so find a home with someone who will give them the attention. Then some I get attached to and never fail to be mesmerized by and they are permanent. Good luck on your new adventures. I’m looking forward to hearing about them. That's a more in depth answer than I was going to give. But yes trying to have to many tanks at once and to fast. Learn to pace yourself and not get to excited at once. From experience before you know it you will have to many tanks to be able to truly enjoy and take care of them. It's so hard to have that self control. Well for me anyways As well don't always believe just what one person may tell you on how you should do something. Yes the basics are important.but there are some people out there that will tell you the only right way to do it is there way. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumplkrum Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 Winter/space. I have tons of outdoor space to raise fish and do setups. Once cold weather arrives, it has to get culled down or brought inside. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 I am really new to doing things like this so, if I make a mistake please be kind and just educate me. My biggest obstetrical to fish keeping is WATER. I never thought about it before till I discovered information on YouTube. Boy was that an adventure! You could say I came down with "too much information itis". Then I got a TDS Meter and the shock of my life. Now all my fish and shrimp are alive and well. No big issues other than algae. My tap water comes out at 363 pretty consistently with a PH as 7.9 to 8. The water was professionally tested so no bacteria, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, copper, pesticides so, I thought I was good to go. Now I have a bunch of governmental official types concerned but it will still cost me $3000 to find out what make out the 363 number other than the wet stuff. I am working on saving up for an RODI system but finding one for a well is also an adventure. If anyone has some "useful" knowledge in this area I would appreciate it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 10:42 AM, ktk4beees said: I am really new to doing things like this so, if I make a mistake please be kind and just educate me. My biggest obstetrical to fish keeping is WATER. I never thought about it before till I discovered information on YouTube. Boy was that an adventure! You could say I came down with "too much information itis". Then I got a TDS Meter and the shock of my life. Now all my fish and shrimp are alive and well. No big issues other than algae. My tap water comes out at 363 pretty consistently with a PH as 7.9 to 8. The water was professionally tested so no bacteria, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, copper, pesticides so, I thought I was good to go. Now I have a bunch of governmental official types concerned but it will still cost me $3000 to find out what make out the 363 number other than the wet stuff. I am working on saving up for an RODI system but finding one for a well is also an adventure. If anyone has some "useful" knowledge in this area I would appreciate it. Welcome to the forum @ktkbeees I can't help with the RODI system, but I am curious as to how the the governmental official types got involved. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neitherman Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 I am sorely lacking in money and space for more tanks. One is not enough to house all the amazing creatures available in this hobby! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neitherman Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 (edited) On 5/16/2023 at 7:42 AM, ktk4beees said: I am working on saving up for an RODI system but finding one for a well is also an adventure. If anyone has some "useful" knowledge in this area I would appreciate it. When I initially filled my tank I used conditioned tap water but I have used RODI every subsequent water change because my TDS is through the roof. I have this SpectraPure RODI system: https://spectrapure.com/products/spectrapure-maxpure-mpdi-90gpd-ro-di-system-mpdi-90 To use it I run a garden hose to a quick connect hose adapter which then connects to the input valve on the RODI unit. I only run the RODI when I'm creating water for the tank. Note that I was able to get my RODI unit second-hand via a Craigslist seller so it may make sense to look for a used unit in your area. Edited May 16, 2023 by neitherman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavdad45 Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 Vacations. Having someone to tend my fish while I'm gone. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 Thank You and I will definitely look into it further. It does not say if it can handle a well but that does not mean it cannot so I will have to call them and ask. Are you on well water? Also we get far to cold (-35 is not uncommon during winter) here to do this outside so I will have to figure out a way to connect it to something inside to keep it from freezing. I have a Cullegan "pre" filter on the well itself now that gets rid of the big stuff like sediment and the pipes to the house are all PVC so no rust and such. My thinking, since both me and the fish have not died from it, is that it mostly calcium but that is a guess. They went through limestone drilling the well and it is down 165 feet so very little from the surface. There is a river less than a mile from my land that runs through the valley also so it is moving most contaminants down river constantly. However it is only 170 miles as the crow files from Yellowstone and the infamous Caldera so there is plenty of ground movement here and behind me is a hot spring. All these factors are why people are interested in what I drilled into when I had to put a new well in. The old well (1970 vintage) was 85 feet and collapsed when we had a decent sized earthquake. Still my immediate need is to fix it for both me and my animals. I have never used Craig's list to date, mostly out of fear of getting ripped off. But, maybe this will be a first and I will get lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOLANANO Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 Time and Patience is the answer. I have 2 kids and they are in a million different after school activities so there are a decent amount of days where the aquarium lights are off before I get a chance to sit down. Creating the time, not only to do the maintenance but to also sit down and enjoy the little box of water you created can be difficult. Patience is a whole other area that is hard to quantify. The obvious example is when starting a new tank you have to be patient when cycling and adding fish but there are other examples too. I have a low tech planted tank so I have to exhibit patience when I trim the plants (the moss in particular). Right after they are trimmed, the tank never looks as good I think it can BUT through experience, I know that 2 weeks from that day, the tank will look better than ever and it will stay looking great for 2-4 weeks after that before its time for another trim. Knowing this, I usually try to trim the plants a few weeks prior to a party or any time I know that people will see the tank. IDK what that last part has to do with patience other than the fact that I have to plan out things and then be patient. I hate being patient lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 9:01 AM, Tanked said: Welcome to the forum @ktkbeees I can't help with the RODI system, but I am curious as to how the the governmental official types got involved. Location of the well and the fact that the government is involved in everything here in central Idaho. Drill a new well, government is involved with permits and such. Then they did the original water tests, such as they were, and declared the water drinkable. If I knew then what I know now, I would have had them do further testing. A true missed opportunity. I posted further down in the posts regarding the location factor. I put up the red flag so to speak when I started requesting further water test on my dime and gave facts about TDS to them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neitherman Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 (edited) On 5/16/2023 at 9:41 AM, ktk4beees said: Thank You and I will definitely look into it further. It does not say if it can handle a well but that does not mean it cannot so I will have to call them and ask. Are you on well water? I am not on well water but the city tap water here in Phoenix is not potable due to the incredibly high TDS. The SpectraPure RODI system does an excellent job of getting my TDS down to zero so it should work fine for you as well. Keep in mind that you would only use a unit like this for your fish tank. For example, on water change day I hook up a garden hose to a faucet then hook that hose to the RODI unit and fill a 5 gallon bucket with the filtered water to later be put in my tank. Drinking treated RODI water isn't recommended since it strips trace elements from the tap water that are necessary for survival. Edited May 16, 2023 by neitherman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 1:40 PM, neitherman said: I am not on well water but the city tap water here in Phoenix is not potable due to the incredibly high TDS. The SpectraPure RODI system does an excellent job of getting my TDS down to zero so it should work fine for you as well. Keep in mind that you would only use a unit like this for your fish tank. On water change day you would hook up a garden hose to a faucet then hook that hose to the RODI unit and fill a 5 gallon bucket with the filtered water to later be put in your tank. Drinking treated RODI water isn't recommended since it strips trace elements from the tap water that are necessary for survival. I know you have your system in place already but I would like you comments on this one if possible. I need something that is healthy for of course the fish but also my service dog and me. I also want to get out of the 363 TDS range and I saw the warning on yours and wondered how you are dealing with it. Now I know. That wont work for me unfortunately since I am A. disabled, B. Freezing temps in winter both of which make just hooking it to a hose for water for water changes impossible. https://nuaquasystems.com/products/nu-aqua-platinum-series-7-stage-alkaline-and-uv-ultraviolet-100gpd-ro-system I just don't know if this is the right one to go with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neitherman Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 12:55 PM, ktk4beees said: I know you have your system in place already but I would like you comments on this one if possible. I need something that is healthy for of course the fish but also my service dog and me. I also want to get out of the 363 TDS range and I saw the warning on yours and wondered how you are dealing with it. Now I know. That wont work for me unfortunately since I am A. disabled, B. Freezing temps in winter both of which make just hooking it to a hose for water for water changes impossible. https://nuaquasystems.com/products/nu-aqua-platinum-series-7-stage-alkaline-and-uv-ultraviolet-100gpd-ro-system I just don't know if this is the right one to go with. The only RODI system I have experience with is the one I have. I don't know enough to feel confident in recommending any other system, especially one that will filter water in your entire household. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 2:06 PM, neitherman said: The only RODI system I have experience with is the one I have. I don't know enough to feel confident in recommending any other system, especially one that will filter water in your entire household. Fair enough. Neither do I which is the crux of my dilemma right now. Wanted to try something new and opened Pandora's box with this one. Now seeing if I can get the lid closed without going into the poor house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 On 5/14/2023 at 4:20 AM, Guppysnail said: Excitement is my biggest obstacle. There are so many fascinating critters and so many ways to set tanks and I want to experience all of them. This! It especially bites me with killifish. I'll buy eggs and have a plan for them, then I'll have to wait for them to incubate, in the meantime I'll collect eggs or buy other eggs that look cool, and then I'm left with more fish than I realistically have space for... I'd also say that getting straightforward and reliable information is difficult. So there are so many ways to approach fish keeping, so many regional difference in the hobby (and the water), so many competing interests. You have to figure out what someone's area of knowledge is, why they're creating they're content, what sort of goals they're trying to help you towards... Lots to consider and lots of disagreements 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galabar Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 I just bought another 1.2 gal and 30 gal. Uh oh! 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 7:42 AM, ktk4beees said: Now I have a bunch of governmental official types concerned but it will still cost me $3000 to find out what make out the 363 number other than the wet stuff. If you're on municipal water and in the US most places require municipalities to release water testing results. Mine had a section labeled something like "not required, but of interest to brewers and aquarists" that broke down hardness and a few mineral components. You may be able to get lucky googling your town and "water quality test results" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 7:54 PM, Schuyler said: If you're on municipal water and in the US most places require municipalities to release water testing results. Mine had a section labeled something like "not required, but of interest to brewers and aquarists" that broke down hardness and a few mineral components. You may be able to get lucky googling your town and "water quality test results" I am 15 miles outside of the actual city and on the other side of the river from them. This was an awesome idea though and I really appreciate it. Sure enough the city itself has to test quarterly and post their results. These results give me a hit list of what to test for. The some of the rest of what is in my water shows up on the glass, lights and lids of tanks. I have to scrape it off with a razor blade. Calcium. Which, no wonder I have some of the healthiest snails you ever have seen and the shrimp are all happily shucking shells with no deaths. So that is not a bad thing but some of the things they mentioned that are in the city water are scary and will have to go. 2 days ago when I first started this mess, the city gave me a personal RO that just hooks up to the sink and produces a gallon about every 5 minutes. I just had to pay for the shipping of it. Then I got a call today and was told they will help with the cost of a full system and help with the install when it comes. I looked at the one they want to point me to and it is not bad at all and thankfully within my limited budget. In the mean time, the local grocer has set aside 4 cases of distilled water for me and my helper is picking them up so, water changes will be happening in at least 2 of the tanks I am concerned about. I helps to live in a very small community! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 9:01 AM, Tanked said: Welcome to the forum @ktkbeees I can't help with the RODI system, but I am curious as to how the the governmental official types got involved. You have to go through the same testing lab that the city does so when I started asking questions, it got back to the local BLM officials and the US Geological Unit. They want to know what was fractured during the drilling of the well and see all my paperwork. I was also on top of it at the time of putting in the well and got some core samples the drilling company dredged up. All of it is in their hands now and I am waiting to hear what they find. I have a legal permit for the depth they drilled so I am in the clear but inquiring minds wanted to know everything around here so I was happy to comply. Idaho is probably the tightest state on environmental things I have ever seen. There is a lot of thing we cannot ship into the state (ie potatoes, onions and even some aquarium plants). I still love it here and would not trade it for anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galabar Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 Any thought on this one (page 6, Bellevue, WA)? https://bellevuewa.gov/sites/default/files/media/pdf_document/2022/Water Quality Report 22.pdf I personally measure a TDS of 22 and KH and GH from 0 - 1. So, I don't think there is much in it. For the above chlorine levels, would that be considered in the "normal" range (would standard instructions on something like Prime be correct)? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 7:50 PM, ktk4beees said: the city gave me a personal RO that just hooks up to the sink That's really cool! I would have never thought that the city would provide that. The other option is to go with something that would like the hard water like a shell dweller tank or a krib tank with val 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk4beees Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 On 5/17/2023 at 7:40 PM, Schuyler said: That's really cool! I would have never thought that the city would provide that. The other option is to go with something that would like the hard water like a shell dweller tank or a krib tank with val Not being aquarium oriented folks here in Challis ID, the one they sent to me will not work at all so I sent them a water sample to test to see it removes the bad stuff for drinking water but here is the one I went with. LiquaGen 6 Stage Dual Portable (Alkaline + Deionized) Reverse Osmosis Water System (RODI) w/pH Alkaline Mineral Restoration Filter It will filter out the baddies for me and the dog and will get the water to 0 TDS for my fish and shrimp. Now I just have to figure out how to remineralize it properly for all my hard water species and for the ones that want it on the other end of the scale. I never got that deep into Chemistry but there is always time to learn new things. Luckily I got it on a great sale right from the site and not through Amazon or E-Bay. I will be able to set it up in the shower I do not use and two of my tanks that will need the softer water are right next to that room so it will make water changes easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 9:06 PM, Galabar said: Any thought on this one (page 6, Bellevue, WA)? https://bellevuewa.gov/sites/default/files/media/pdf_document/2022/Water Quality Report 22.pdf I personally measure a TDS of 22 and KH and GH from 0 - 1. So, I don't think there is much in it. For the above chlorine levels, would that be considered in the "normal" range (would standard instructions on something like Prime be correct)? If I remember correctly there is an coop video with Dean where he says that the chlorine levels around here are pretty minimal and that most dechlorinators are designed for 2 ppm. Pretty sure he's close to you up in Bellevue. I would just go with the directions on the bottle. The amounts of chlorine will fluctuate, it's fine if there's a bit too much dechlorinator but too little can cause problems. On 5/17/2023 at 10:29 PM, ktk4beees said: It will filter out the baddies for me and the dog and will get the water to 0 TDS for my fish and shrimp What are you worried about being in the water? You could just do 50/50 RO and tap to get a more reasonable hardness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeypoint Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 11:50 AM, neitherman said: I have used RODI every subsequent water change because my TDS is through the roof. Huh. I am looking into this myself. Do you have to remineralize the water, and if so, how do you do that? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeypoint Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Travel. Having to leave town and worrying about maintenance - especially for shrimp. And as an aside, I'm terrified of power outages! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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